Give up Your Password or Go to Jail: Police Push Legal Boundaries to Get Into Cellphones

“The world should know that what they’re doing out here is crazy,” said a man who refused to share his passcode with police.

June 7, 2019, 4:30 AM EDT
By Jon Schuppe

William Montanez is used to getting stopped by the police in Tampa, Florida, for small-time traffic and marijuana violations; it’s happened more than a dozen times. When they pulled him over last June, he didn’t try to hide his pot, telling officers, "Yeah, I smoke it, there's a joint in the center console, you gonna arrest me for that?"

They did arrest him, not only for the marijuana but also for two small bottles they believed contained THC oil — a felony — and for having a firearm while committing that felony (they found a handgun in the glove box).

Then things got testy.

As they confiscated his two iPhones, a text message popped up on the locked screen of one of them: “OMG, did they find it?”

The officers demanded his passcodes, warning him they’d get warrants to search the cellphones. Montanez suspected that police were trying to fish for evidence of illegal activity. He also didn’t want them seeing more personal things, including intimate pictures of his girlfriend.

So he refused, and was locked up on the drug and firearms charges.

William MontanezWilliam MontanezCourtesy of William Montanez
Five days later, after Montanez was bailed out of jail, a deputy from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office tracked him down, handed him the warrants and demanded the phone passcodes. Again, Montanez refused. Prosecutors went to a judge, who ordered him locked up again for contempt of court.

6. I don't see any issue here

Law enforcement can request anything. If they are not able to get what they are requesting they can seek to get a search warrant. That's what these officers did. They went to a judge and the judge agreed to issue a search warrant.

There's no abuse of authority with that. Not unless the officers lied to the judge about the facts they presented to the judge to get a warrant. Unless that happened the officers followed the law.